Orientilla nitens, Okayasu, 2023

Okayasu, Juriya, 2023, Discovery of the velvet ant genus Orientilla Lelej from Laos (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae, Dasylabrinae), with description of a related new species from India, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 96, pp. 817-834 : 817

Orientilla nitens sp. nov.

Figs 5 , 6 , 9 , 12

Diagnosis.

Female. Head red; clypeal medial elevation forming subtriangular area; clypeal subtriangular area dorso-medially delimited by carina (Fig. 9 ); hypostomal carina lamellately projecting; antenna dark; humeral carina obliterated; mesopleuron evenly convex, not spinose (Fig. 5 ); legs black; T1 posterior margin with complete pale setal band and T2 posterior half covered with dense appressed golden setae; T1 short and broad, with dorsal T1 length 0.68 × T1 width and 0.32 × T2 length (Fig. 12 ); T2 slender, 1.96 × wider than T1, with lateral margins weakly convex (Fig. 12 ); T2 lacking medial spot; T3 with golden setal band; S1 carina short, reaching anterior 1/4 of S1; S2 felt line short. Male. Unknown.

Description.

Female. Body length. 8.51 mm.

Color and setae. Head except clypeus, mesosoma, and meso- and metacoxae basal 1/3 yellowish red; clypeus, mandible except apex, scape, pedicel, maxillary and labial palpi, and legs except meso- and metacoxal bases dark brown; mandible apex, flagellum dorsal face, prementum, and stipes black; flagellum ventral face and tibial spurs brown; metasoma brownish black.

Frons, vertex, mesosomal dorsum, and tibiae with sparse short recumbent golden and sparse long erect black setae; gena, coxae, and femora with sparse long recumbent and sparse erect golden setae; postgenal bridge, clypeus, mandible, pronotal collar, lateral mesosomal face, dorsal propodeal face, T1, T2 except medial portion, T3, T4-5 lateral portions, and S1-S6 with sparse long erect golden setae; eye dorsal and posterior margins edged with long erect black setae; scape with sparse long recumbent golden setae; pedicel and F1 with sparse short recumbent golden setae; F2-10 with sparse very short appressed golden setae; prementum, stipes, and maxillary and labial palpi with sparse short erect golden setae; tarsi with sparse long appressed golden setae; T2 and T4-5 medial portions with sparse short recumbent black and sparse long erect golden setae; T6 with sparse short recumbent and sparse long erect golden setae; T1 dorsal face entirely covered with band of dense appressed golden setae; T2 posterior half covered with semicircular spot of dense appressed golden setae; T2 lacking lateral felt line; S2 with short lateral felt line of pale golden setae; distance between S2 felt line and posterior fringe 0.46 × felt line length; T3 with wide uniform band of dense appressed golden setae; S2-S3 with posterior fringe of dense appressed golden setae.

Structure. Head 1.39 × wider than long with lateral margins strongly convergent behind eye; gena narrow, 0.73 × eye breadth in lateral view; eye height:eye breadth = 62:50; distance between eyes 1.75 × eye height; eye height 1.49 × malar distance; frons and vertex without medial carina or groove; occipital carina complete, dorsally strongly protruding from posterior margin of vertex; antennal scrobe lacking dorsal carina; genal carina weakly developed, wavy, ventrally separated from hypostomal carina and lacking hypostomal tooth; postgenal bridge laterally delimited by sharp carina extending from occiput; eye semicircular, convex, distinctly protruding from head capsule; clypeus dorso-medially strongly elevated nearly to level of antennal rim; clypeus with subventral transverse ridge extending along entire width of clypeus, with anterior margin shallowly concave; medial elevation limited on dorsal half of clypeus and forming medial subtriangular area; medial subtriangular area dorso-medially delimited by carina; mandible apically bidentate; mandible dorsal face with sharp ridge basally, ventral margin straight; prementum flattened; scape bending medially; length and width of pedicel:F1:F2 = 10:14:20:18:20:20; F2-9 almost same in length and width; F10 slightly longer than F1 and F9, conical; F3-10 depressed.

Mesosoma broadest at mesothorax; lateral margins of mesosoma weakly crenulate, lacking carina; head width:humeral width:mesonotal width:T2 width = 91:75:98:100; mesosomal length 1.14 × mesothoracic width; anterior margin of pronotal dorsum nearly straight; pronotal and propodeal spiracles without distinct tubercle; humeral carina obliterated; scutellar scale obliterated; scutellar area without scales; metanotal-propodeal suture obliterated; mesopleuron evenly convex; propodeum lacking distinct dorsal and posterior faces; dorsal propodeal face vertical, without medial carina; mesopleural lamella absent; mesopleural ventral face with sharp precoxal transverse carina.

Protarsus lacking outer spines; protarsomere 1 apically truncate, not protruding outward; tibiae lacking outer spines; metacoxa armed with weak inner carina along its entire length.

Metasomal segment 1 petiolate; T1 with distinct dorsal and anterior faces; T1 dorsal length:T1 width:T2 dorsal length:T2 width = 32:47:100:92; T2 weakly convex, dorsally flattened; T2 lateral margin weakly convex; S1 medial carina present only on anterior 1/4 of sternum, anteriorly rounded; S2 with distinct anterior face, without medial carina; S6 posterior margin truncate; pygidial plate obscurely defined, convex, lacking lateral carina.

Frons, vertex, mesosomal dorsum, T2 lateral margin, and S1 with large dense punctures, with intervals distinct and smooth; gena, mesosomal lateral face, and dorsal propodeal face with large confluent punctures; postgenal bridge, antennal rim, clypeus lateral portion, scape, legs except coxae, T3-T6, and S3-S6 with small sparse punctures; clypeal subtriangular area with small sparse punctures, with intervals wrinkled; pedicel, flagellum, and prementum with minute dense punctures; stipes with minute sparse punctures; pronotal collar transversely wrinkled on anterior half and smooth on posterior half, with minute sparse punctures; coxae with small dense punctures; T1 anterior face and S2 with large sparse punctures; T1 dorsal face and T2 posteriorly with large shallow dense punctures interspersed with small punctures; T2 anteriorly to setal patch longitudinally coarsely puncto-striate.

Male. Unknown.

Type material.

Holotype: India • ♀; Tamil Nadu, Anaimalai, Top Slip; 550-800 m alt.; 2-5 Dec. 1978; JAP-IND CO TR [SEHU].

Distribution.

India: Tamil Nadu.

Etymology.

The specific name Orientilla nitens is a Latin feminine adjective in the nominative case meaning bright. It refers to the metasoma of this new species ornamented with golden setal bands.

Remarks.

By having the red head, dark legs, and slender T2, this new species is similar to O. jabalpurensis Das & Girish Kumar, 2016 and O. vietnamica . This new species differs from these two species by having the clypeal subtriangular area delimited by carinae only dorso-medially (subtriangular area delimited by carinae along its entire width in O. vietnamica ; Figs 8 , 9 ), hypostomal carina lamellately projecting (sharp but not projecting in O. vietnamica ), humeral carina obliterated (well developed in O. jabalpurensis and O. vietnamica ), T1 with a complete pale setal band (T1 band medially interrupted in O. jabalpurensis ; Fig. 12 ), T2 lacking medial spot (T2 with a medial pale setal spot in O. jabalpurensis and O. vietnamica ; Figs 11 , 12 ), T2 posterior half covered with dense appressed golden setae (T2 with a complete or medially interrupted setal band on posterior margin in O. jabalpurensis and O. vietnamica ; Figs 11 , 12 ), and T3 with a golden setal band (T3 with sparse erect black setae in O. jabalpurensis ; Fig. 12 ).

Figures

Figures 1 - 6. Orientilla spp., ♀, habitus 1, 2 O. tamaderai sp. nov., holotype 3, 4 O. vietnamica Lelej, Laos 5, 6 O. nitens sp. nov., holotype 1, 3, 5 dorsal view 2, 4, 6 lateral view.

Figures 7 - 12. Orientilla spp., ♀ 7, 10 O. tamaderai sp. nov., holotype 8, 11 O. vietnamica Lelej, Laos 9, 12 O. nitens sp. nov., holotype 7 - 9 face 10 - 12 metasoma, dorsal view. White arrows indicate the subtriangular area on the clypeus.